Printable food traceability register

At minimum, enough to tie a product to its lot: date received, product name, supplier, lot number, use-by or best-before date, quantity, and the temperature recorded on arrival for chilled goods. The initials of whoever checked it are what make the check accountable.

Once a product is opened or decanted, its original date no longer applies: the operator sets a new, secondary date after which it must not be used. How long depends on the product and comes from your sector's good hygiene practice guides and your own food safety plan - it is not the same for every food.

The regulation requires the information to remain available to the authorities without setting one duration for every product; it is judged against the shelf life of the foods concerned. Set the period in your food safety plan and stick to it - that document is what an inspector checks against.

It is recorded at the same moment and on the same register, but it belongs to cold chain control: a chilled product delivered outside its range must be refused or quarantined, and that decision has to be traced. It is where traceability and the cold chain meet, and the most frequently checked point.